The Black Heaven Sect was once again protected by the Astonis.h.i.+ng Sea of Clouds Formation. There could no longer be any outsiders who could spy on their every move in the sect. Thus, many of the people decided to leave the place.

“An era has ended.”

“His time has pa.s.sed.”

Quite a few people shook their heads and sighed.

Throughout these years, Chu Kuangren had managed one too many miracles. Things especially held true this time with his unprecedented feat of dragging several hundred thousand people into his ascension trial. This made many people respect him and even revere him religiously.

Besides, his attractive appearance had bewitched countless female cultivators who became his loyal followers.

Hence, the fact that the Heavenly Punishment Seal had now made Chu Kuangren a normal folk brought heartbreak to many of his followers.

“Oh… my dear Chu Kuangren. Even if his heroics are gone, it still cannot be denied that he is truly the greatest of all time!!”

“His era may be over, but his legend will live on. His name will carry on into the new eras. He shall be known to every household for years to come.”

One of the cultivators lamented.

The crowd gradually disa.s.sembled. They could foretell that without Chu Kuangren's domination, the sky-prides of this realm would become active once again.

The following era would belong to these sky-prides.

Meanwhile, for Chu Kuangren.

No matter how great of a legend he was, he had become the past.

Inside the Black Heaven Sect.

The Illusive Mirage docked in front of Chu Kuangren.

The people got down from the Illusive Mirage and quickly went up to Chu Kuangren. Many of them bore concerned looks on their faces when they saw the Heavenly Punishment Seal on him.

“Sect Leader, how are you feeling?” Elder Ruyan asked.

“I'm alright.”

Chu Kuangren replied with a soft smile.

Upon hearing his response, Elder Ruyan felt very sympathetic toward him. “What do you mean you're alright? That is a Heavenly Punishment Seal!”

“Heh, it's just a seal. I'm still alive and breathing.”

In truth, Chu Kuangren did care about the Heavenly Punishment Seal, but he believed that as long as he was still alive, there had to be a way to get rid of that seal.

Emperors of the Old could not do it.

However, it did not mean that Chu Kuangren could not too!

“Elder Ruyan, pa.s.s the word around that the Black Heaven Sect will remain secluded from the outside world for the time being. The Astonis.h.i.+ng Sea of Clouds Formation will continue operating as per usual,” Chu Kuangren ordered.

Now that he had the Heavenly Punishment Seal on him, he would not be able to control the situation like he used to, should any powerful enemies were to attack them. The Astonis.h.i.+ng Sea of Clouds Formation would be their greatest insurance.

“Yes.”

“Also, send people to clean up the mess from the battlefield. By my calculations, there should be some decent loot,” Chu Kuangren said calmly. So many Sages, Sage Rulers, and even the two Boundary Emperors had perished there.

Hence, these people must have left behind numerous treasures.

“Alright.”

Chu Kuangren left the rest of the matters for Elder Ruyan and the others to deal with.

He turned around and prepared to head back to the Towering Heavenly Palace.

Subconsciously, he attempted to utilize his spiritual power and turn his figure into a flash of light. However, the moment he stepped forward, it dawned on him that he could not do that anymore.

“Sigh, it does seem quite troublesome now.”

He shook his head and sighed before he walked to the mountain exit.

When the other people saw that, a hint of concern and sorrow flashed in their eyes.

“Why are you guys standing there? Sect Leader has ordered all of you to clean up the battlefield, so stop staring at him like that.”

Elder Ruyan suppressed the concern she had for Chu Kuangren and shouted at the rest of them. Under her leaders.h.i.+p, the Black Heaven Sect began to operate in an organized manner once again.

“Some real damage has been done.”

Chu Kuangren eyed the damaged surroundings of the Black Heaven Sect.

Although he had tried his best to spare the Black Heaven Sect from the battle repercussions, that final tribulation lightning was still so powerful that many parts of the Black Heaven Sect could not escape its destruction. Many buildings had collapsed into a pile of waste.

“Master, these will be rebuilt soon enough.”

Lan Yu commented beside him.

“Yes, as long as the people are still here, we'll be good.”

Chu Kuangren nodded gently.

When he arrived at the Towering Heaven Palace, he realized that it did not sustain much damage. As such, Chu Kuangren need not have to worry about having no place to stay.

Once he entered the palace, he began looking into his body's condition.

His subconsciousness entered his spiritual mound.

He could see that many colorful chains were interweaved inside his spiritual mound. Each one of them had huge amounts of mysterious Daoist Rhymes and runes flowing on them.

After a rough count, he counted a total of nine colorful chains.

This was the ninth-level Heavenly Punishment Seal!

It had sealed not only his spiritual power but his foundation levels, his physical body, and the Three Great Supreme Daoist Physiques as well.

Only his Immortal Body and the Universal Cauldron Physique could be used.

This could well be the key to help him break the seal.

“This Heavenly Punishment Seal seems like some sort of strange energy as well. The Universal Cauldron Physique might be able to convert it into energy, but with my spiritual power locked away, it would still take ages for me to break this seal. I wonder if there's a way to speed up this process.”

Chu Kuangren started to ponder the options that he had right now.

His subconscious looked into the Heavenly Punishment Seal, and suddenly, his mind tingled. “This seal contains Daoist Rhymes and runes within it, and it seems like I can attempt to gain insight into it. If I can do that, it'll undoubtedly help me a lot in breaking the seal.”

At the thought of that, Chu Kuangren calmed himself down and began to gain insights into this Heavenly Punishment Seal. He was fully immersed in its Daoist Rhymes.

Time pa.s.sed very quickly.

Very soon, a whole day and night had pa.s.sed.

Chu Kuangren opened his eyes. “This is too mysterious. Even Sage Rulers will find it extremely difficult to comprehend the Daoist Rhymes in this Heavenly Punishment Seal. With my cognizance, it took me a whole day only to get bits and pieces of it…”

How scary was Chu Kuangren's cognizance?

Complemented with his Meditational Clarity Trait, he could apprehend even Emperor Techniques with great speed. A full day's time should be enough for him to gain insights into two Emperor Techniques. Yet, his progress when gaining insight into this Heavenly Punishment Seal was like a drop in the ocean!

This ill.u.s.trated how daunting this Heavenly Punishment Seal is.

No wonder even Emperors of Old had no means of unlocking it.

Nevertheless, Chu Kuangren realized that after a day's effort in trying to apprehend this Heavenly Punishment Seal's Doaoist Rhyme, the Universal Cauldron started to show some progress. Even though the speed was still painfully slow, he saw a very tiny bit of improvement.

This proved Chu Kuangren's speculations right.

Gaining insight into the Heavenly Punishment Seal could help speed up its conversion in the Universal Cauldron Physique.

“But based on my current speed, I'm going to need up to a hundred years to gain the complete insight into this Heavenly Punishment Seal.”

Chu Kuangren muttered under his breath.

Moreover, this was based on his capabilities. If it were anybody else, whether an Emperor or not, they would not be able to gain insight into it in ten thousand years.

“It's slow, but it's better than nothing.”

Chu Kuangren chuckled as he shook his head.

It was fine.

Since his days of bloodshed were already well past him, it was time he lived a tranquil life and used this time to organize everything that he had learned thus far.

Chu Kuangren thought to himself.

The next day.

Black Heaven Sect, inside the Longevity Hall.

“We've salvaged fifty-six tattered Fairy boats, sixteen million kilograms of soulstones, seven thousand and six hundred bottles of elixirs, and four hundred and eighty-one Sage Weapons and Armors. This includes twenty-one Sage Ruler Weapons, as for Great Sage Weapons…”

Elder Ruyan was reporting to Chu Kuangren the list of items that they looted from the battlefield.

The eyes of the elders in Longevity Hall gleamed brighter and brighter.

They had gained such an immense reward this time!

Not accounting for the other items, but those several hundred pieces of Sage Weapons and Armors alone were something that the Black Heaven Sect could never have dreamed of!!

“Right. This is not too surprising.”

Chu Kuangren looked remarkably composed.

Without taking into account the six great unknown lands, the Thirty-Six Oceanic Islands from the Outer Seas alone had a huge number of Sages and a ma.s.sive pile of Sage Weapons.

“These items, the Serpent Deity's treasury that Sect Leader had brought back, and the Imperial Palace's Opportunity of Fortune would be enough to sustain the Black Heaven Sect's development for many years to come. I doubt we would ever need to worry about the lack of resources in the next few millenniums.”

Elder Ruyan smiled and said.